Flicker
by Mitsu-Mitsu-chan
Summary: Love can make you do crazy things, or is it just insanity that does that? Destruction and decception, what's real, and what's not?
1. underground

In the night, the stars shine bright  
But still the sky remains dark  
Lightening flashes and yet the light vanishes  
Leaving only the dark clouds to shed their tears  
On the earth below  
These flickers of light can be compared to a spark of happiness that appears in the heart of a broken soul.  
No one wants to be alone in this world. Humans naturally long for attention, for someone to break through the surface and know them deeply. Well, almost everyone.

Vincent Valentine sat at the edge of a large materia-filled pool of sparkling water, gazing into the eyes of his once beloved Lucrecia. She looked just as she had thirty years ago. The only thing keeping Vincent from being with her was her being dead and frozen.  
He knew there was something special about her the first day they met so many years ago when he was part of the Turks. They fell in love with each other from the beginning.  
His heart sank remembering the way Lucrecia looked at him after he had found out she worked with his father. She blamed herself for his father's death and wouldn't think any different. She even stopped meeting him in secret, and to Vincent's horror had agreed to marry Hojo, a scientist with an odd laugh and who most people thought to be insane. Vincent was shocked to learn later that Lucrecia was pregnant, and that her child was to be treated as an experiment.  
Vincent closed his dark crimson eyes, images of her expression resurfacing from his memories. It was like Hojo had hypnotized her; she seemed to always have a smirk playing upon her lips, except when her gaze rested on him. She would frown in what Vincent believed to be repugnance and would continue her work. She was no longer the Lucrecia he knew.  
On one fateful day, Vincent decided he couldn't keep silent any longer. He mustered up the courage to confront Hojo about his plans on experimenting with their child. It was true Hojo was a scientist and was quite skilled at his profession, but didn't Lucrecia's child has a right to be born normally? Besides, the chemicals Hojo planned to use on the unborn child were sure to have a reaction with either itself or the mother. Vincent didn't want to see Lucrecia or her child hurt, no matter how much she seemed to hate him at the moment.  
Hojo didn't care to hear what he had to say. Seeing Vincent as a nuisance, Hojo shot him. At that moment, Vincent was sure he was dead. He could literally feel himself being taken to the life stream, but Hojo had other plans. Vincent looked at his hands, the golden gauntlet of his left arm shimmering from the reflection of the water. This thing that he had turned into, his separation from the world outside, his immortality, the monster that dwelled inside of him; this was all the result of Hojo's experiments on him.  
His hands balled into fists. Again he looked at the frozen woman, tears falling from his eyes. He wanted so badly to crawl back into the coffin he had sealed himself in as punishment for hurting Lucrecia and making her despise him. Yet he wanted to avenge her death. But how was he to do that when Hojo was presumed to be dead?  
Vincent hadn't been outside the Shinra mansion for more than thirty years, but word spread fast through the company's staff, bits and pieces of information drifting through the ventilation system. Hiding under the Shinra company's building wasn't so bad to him, at least now he knew that Chaos, the evil inside of him, couldn't hurt anyone, not ever again. Even if he had to spend the rest of eternity apart from humanity, he would do it. Vincent gave a sigh; his emotions were getting the best of him. His heart ached with the same intensity it did the day he first realized the beast he had become and that his only love had perished. Chaos burnt inside of him. It longed to desecrate everything around it, even if it meant it's own death.  
The ex-Turk's golden arm quivered against the tiled floor. At first Vincent thought it was just his nerves like always, but he could feel his whole body shaking. He looked around seeing the earthen walls of the unfinished basement begin to crumble. There were shouts and cries above from the Shinra employee's. Vincent could only suspect the worst. He heard footsteps loud against the steps coming in his direction. He quickly drew his gun, preparing to shoot any hostile person that crossed his path. Before anything could happen, a large mass of earth tumbled down from the walls on top of him, knocking him out cold.


	2. waking up

A breathy sigh left Itachi's parted lips, water pouring down on him. Itachi indulged in the warmth of the tiny beads of water streaming down his form. It was moments like these he could just relax.

But it was short lived, as all good things are. A soft rapping at his door filtered through the steamy air and he reluctantly climbed out from his haven, drying off with a towel. A shiver ran down his spine as he opened the bathroom door.

Another knock came, making Itachi's brow nit. 'Impatient…great...must be Sasori.'

Sliding his cloak on, he cracked the door open, his red eyes radiating from the darkness of his room out into the hall. "Yes?"

Konan stared back emotionlessly."Pein wants to speak with you."

"Hn." He promptly shut his door in her face. Konan's eyes widened, reaching for the door, but she shook her head deciding against it and walked away; Pein could deal with him.

Itachi quickly tied back his wet hair.

What more could the leader want to talk about? He'd already said not to mention the incident that showed his weak side to anyone, and Itachi would hold true to his word; besides, as far as Itachi was concerned, he didn't even want to remember it. Having to carry him..

'Maybe he wants to reward me.' But he quickly dismissed that thought. Pein was less than giving from what Itachi had seen.

He smirked lightly to himself; How far was his leader willing to go to keep his secret hidden? Perhaps he could benefit from this. He'd find out soon enough, as he was already in front of Pein's door.

Before his knuckles even hit the painted wood of the door, Pein was standing before him, clad in the normal black pants. "Itachi."Pein gave him a small nod and moved slightly to let his visitor in.

Keeping his eyes on Pein, Itachi stepped in looking around. Pein shut his door, slowly walking back to his bed, almost limping. Itachi hadn't noticed before how nicely the room was furnished. Pein's king sized bed was covered with a crimson comforter, and inside were black sheets. There was also a small fire going. 'A fire place?' Itachi screwed up his nose.

"So,"Pein said with a sigh sitting slowly on his bed, "I wanted to set the record straight, so to speak."

The raven's eyes looked from the warm fire to his leader as he went on.

"I know you're not one to gossip, Itachi," as he said this, Pein's piercing white eye met Itachi's. "but I want to make it clear to you…"

Itachi held his breath, feeling his leader shift so his face was closer to his subordinates. "…that no one is to know about the little mistake that happened earlier. "

Refusing to blink and break eye contact, Itachi nodded shortly, eyes still connected. "Yes, leader-sama. I understand."

He relaxed a bit when Pein moved back, their eyes finally breaking, and Itachi felt free in a sense.

Pein's eyes drifted over to the fire. "You were going to leave me there, weren't you?" A bruised and cut hand clenched the sheets. Itachi looked away, not intending to answer his question.

Pein's pierced face looked up to him. "Look at me!" he almost growled. The weasel looked him in the eyes once again, feeling his leader's anger flow into him like a burning heat. Pein's next words were a harsh whisper. "Look me in the eyes and tell me Itachi. You can't lie to me. You and I both know you turned your back on me."

Itachi's lips parted, an eyebrow twitched. "You seemed half-dead to me. How could I have known-"

Pein's face was dark now, a vein prominent on his forehead. "You knew damn well I was still alive!" he gritted through his teeth, retaining the urge to hit the Uchiha. "In Akatsuki, we have each other's backs, no matter how much we hate one another."

The glare Itachi received almost shut him up, but he couldn't help himself. "You were weak. I don't tolerate people when they are so weak they can't even defend themselves," Itachi's eyes bore into Pein's. "Even if that person happens to be you."

Pein folded his arms across his chest eyeing Itachi. That was it; Itachi needed to be taught a lesson.

" Itachi…you've been in this organization for how long and you can't obey this simple rule?"

Itachi glared back at his leader. "…"

He watched as Pein moved a little, propping himself up more, a grin plastered on his lips. "If you break a rule, you have to be punished."

A knot formed in Itachi's stomach at his words. 'Punishment?!'

Pein rubbed his chin looking at Itachi. "Torture won't do, seeing as to how you're the proclaimed 'master of torture'." He remarked watching Itachi's eye twitch at his mocking tone.

"I know!" Pein sat back. "As your punishment, you will help me while I recoup."

Itachi almost cringed as the orange haired man continued. "You will report to my quarters as soon as you wake up, every day until I am fully healed." He laughed to himself.

"But leader-sama, I-" Itachi started but was cut off by Pein's deep voice. " ah, ah- you have no say in this matter. Perhaps next time one of your colleagues needs help, you will aid them, 'even if it is me'!"

With that said, he chuckled, watching Itachi leave for the night.


	3. digging for the truth

Vincent had no real sense direction, or the slightest idea where he was. All he knew was he needed to get back to the Shinra estate. He needed to sort a few things out, and make sure Lucrecia's body was unharmed. Vincent felt like he was losing his memory. He believed that seeing Lucrecia helped him remember who he was and why he was burdened with the memories of his past.

Tifa stood brooding over the happenings earlier with the mysterious man named Vincent. She sighed scrubbing the dishes from their meal earlier. Sensing someone was watching her, she turned around and gasped seeing Cloud with a large black, triple barreled gun in his hands. "Cloud! You scared me!" Cloud chuckled lightly.  
"What are you doing with that? I didn't know you had a gun."  
"It's not mine, Tifa. Vincent left his gun here."  
Tifa nodded in acknowledgement wiping her hands dry on a towel and skimming the weapon noticing the intricate design on the barrels and the silver chain hanging down from the handle. Resting against the counter with a hand on her hip, she thought aloud, "I wonder where he went.." Clous sat the gun down on the counter top. "I don't know, but I would say he would go back to the place we originally found him, the Shinra mansion." Tifa folded her arms across her chest. "There's something wrong with him, I know it." Cloud gave her a skeptical look, adjusting his weight so he was leaning against the counter. "What do you mean?"  
The brunet looked out the window at the children again. " I could sense it from the very first moment we found him. He wasn't only physically damaged but also emotionally, Cloud. He hurts, I know it." There was a long pause and she continued. " What if Vincent did go back there, Cloud? He could be in danger!" Tifa's voice was filled with panic. "Sephiroth's more than likely still out there waiting for us." Cloud looked down realizing she was right. "And if he knew Vincent was with us, he could kill him!" Cloud nodded calmly backing up out of the room. Tifa shook her head. Had he heard a single word she said? She followed him outside where he was revving up Fenrir's engine.  
"Where are you going?" The blonde swordsman adjusted his goggles. "To find Vincent. You coming?" Tifa wanted to go but then the kids would be alone. "What about Marline and Denzel?" Cloud pointed towards the kids. She whirled around seeing their burly friend Barret playing with them. She smiled and turned back to Cloud who grinned warmly. Tifa hopped on the seat behind Cloud. "Let's go."

It had taken him quite some time to finally figure out which direction he was traveling, but Vincent eventually found the remains of the Shinra mansion. He knelt down, gripping a clump of its rubble in his hand. He watched as it sifted through his golden claw mixing with the air.  
"Who...is this Sephiroth?"  
"Hojo's son."  
So it was true. Lucrecia and Hojo's son was still alive. The raven-haired man scanned the deserted lot. And from the looks of the Shinra Company's estate, he was wreaking havoc on Midgar, and possibly even the world. Vincent gazed into the distance. The air was thick with debris. It acted as a sort of veil concealing the truth of the buildings recent destruction.  
Far off, or perhaps not so far off, Vincent could detect movement among the piles of wreckage. An eerie sensation filtered through the nebulous atmosphere telling Vincent to flee in the opposite direction.  
But, with stealth known only by a Turk, Vincent crept closer to the noise, the distinct sound of someone digging through the fragments of the building growing closer. Soon he could make out a silhouette in the haze of debris, using what appeared to be a sword to toss dirt from side to side. As he shifted closer he could see the form was a man with extremely long locks of silver hair.  
Vincent had guessed right when suspecting the person was wielding a sword. He moved even closer hearing the man mumble curses under his breath, still hacking away at the rubble. "Mother...where are you?"  
Vincent quirked an eyebrow. He was searching for his mother? He took another step but lost his footing in the process and slid down the hill of crumpled matter. Vincent clutched the earth at his back, the golden claw easily sinking into the gravel. Patting his leg, he realized his gun was missing. 'Damn.' He cursed himself. He held his breath waiting for the man to appear above him, his fear rising.  
As expected, the stranger stopped what he was doing. Vincent's blood ran cold upon hearing footsteps crunching into the ground near the hole he was in.  
Vincent stumbled to his feet meeting the sharp end of Masamune, its wielder smirking wildly.  
"What do we have here? A Spy?" His smirk turned into a glower. "Who sent you?" Vincent stepped back from the sword, the man coolly following him. "Was is that damnable Cloud Strife and his team?" The man thrust his sword at Vincent who swiftly ducked out of the way, regaining his composure. Vincent's eyes bore into his attackers. "What's the matter? Can't you speak?" Vincent snatched a fist full of dirt and cast it into the silver haired man's eyes. The man hissed and cursed but recovered quickly, trapping Vincent at a dead end. "No one sent me." He reluctantly spoke up, eyes more alert than ever as Masamune sliced through the air barely missing his head. Vincent leapt up the hills of debris, kicking some down at his pursuer hoping to lose the deranged man.  
The assailant cut through the falling shards of the Shinra building, his anger on the rise. "You can tell Cloud that I, Sephiroth, will find mother, and once I do, I'll find him and with mother's power, kill him." Vincent whipped around "Sephiroth..?" Sephiroth took this chance to punch Vincent right in the jaw. In the next instant, he was thrown into a heap of wreckage, the blade of Masamune running deep through his crimson cape and shoulder, pinning him to the mound, a sharp gasp of pain escaping his lips.

"Don't play dumb with me!" He drove the blade deeper into Vincent's shoulder. Vincent flinched biting back his pain. "Now, who told you to come after me?" Sephiroth held the caped man against the wall with his boot and pulled the long sword from him, smirking once again as Vincent fell to the ground on his hands and knees.  
"I came here on my own." Vincent clasped his shoulder with his good hand surprised Sephiroth hadn't killed him yet. The silver haired man scowled, looking over the wounded man. He looked vaguely familiar. "Who are you?" Sephiroth commanded, eyeing him closely as he rose to his feet. Vincent's sorrow and hatred shown through his eyes, catching Sephiroth off guard if only for a brief moment. "I am..Vincent Valentine." Why was everyone so curious to know who he was all of the sudden?  
"Hmph." Sephiroth's composure noticeably changed from being determined to one that was more relaxed. "You're that man my father had been working on. He talked about you from time to time." His lips curled into a wicked smile. "Do I feel sorry for you." He scoffed.  
Vincent's blood began to boil. "The same to you." He replied in a stern voice. The other man's eye twitched. "What is that supposed to mean?" Vincent looked into his eyes seeing he was genuinely confused yet still felt insulted. "You mean...you don't know?" He was shocked. Vincent assumed that since he had known about the experiments his father did on him he would have surely known the tests his father had done on himself and his mother. But then again why would Hojo tell Sephiroth and risk being decapitated by his own son? "Hojo, your father, did perform experiments on me, that much is true," Vincent's hair fell in his eyes, his face dipping back behind his high collar. "But, he also experimented on you and your-"  
Vincent was interrupted by Masamune digging into his neck. He gulped, dreading what might happen next. "You lie." Sephiroth hissed through gritted teeth. "What would you know about my past?" His gaze pierced Vincent's. "Because-" He hesitated debating whether he should reveal the truth to Lucrecia's son. He winced, the blade jabbing harder into his flesh. "Go on." Sephiroth egged him on beginning to grow impatient with all their dilly-dallying. Vincent let out the breath of air he had been holding and proceeded. " Your mother and I... we were in love."  
Sephiroth was fuming with rage. Sephiroth stabbed his sword through Vincent's cape multiple times in an attempt to try and pierce him. Vincent turned and ran as fast as he could across the valley of rubble until he was sure he had lost Sephiroth. He stood flat against the wall of debris catching his breath. There was no way he could defeat Sephiroth- not without his gun. He decided to take a peek out into the clearing, coming face to face with the green-eyed swordsman. Sephiroth approached him nonchalantly, his sword a mere breadth away from the other man's face. Vincent stumbled backwards, falling over in the process.  
"You're such a liar." The sword plunged into the earth at the back of his head. Sephiroth's words seethed with hatred, hitting Vincent at his core. "My father told me what really happened. I know the truth." Vincent blocked his next blow with his golden gauntlet.  
"It was you, Vincent." Vincent stared into Sepiroth's eyes in astonishment. " It was your fault my mother died." His heart sank, believing every word Lucrecia's son uttered, his thoughts racing through his mind, all the memories he had of her. "No...no...no..." Vincent shook his head. "I didn't..."  
"How could you?" Sephiroth caught him off guard and knocked him to the ground forcing his sword into Vincent's other shoulder. "After all she did for you, you still killed her." He twisted the blade in the wound. "No!" Vincent squirmed unable to escape his torture. Sephiroth grinned maliciously and roughly pulled Masamune from Vincent's body.  
"The next time we meet I won't bother to spare your life." He callously spat turning to leave. "I'll kill you the same way you did Lucrecia."  
Vincent gave an exasperated sigh of guilt and pain, unable to keep his head up to watch Sephiroth leave him stranded. He stared at the foggy sky tears running down his face; he could feel no pain except for the aching within his heart.


	4. diary

Cloud and Tifa arrived a little too late. They found Vincent lying amongst the rubble, blood seeping from both wounds in his shoulders, slipping in and out of consciousness. Cloud declared it was nothing a little heal materia wouldn't fix. He loaded the comatose man onto his motorcycle behind Tifa. "Take him home and make sure he's ok, Tifa."  
"What? You mean you're not coming back?" He sighed. "I'm gonna take another look around; see if there's anything more I can dig up out here." Vincent managed to hear him. "No..!" He reached his claw out to Cloud in a failed attempt to stop him. "Don't..!" Sephiroth was still out there. He was probably watching them at this very moment. He had to protect what little 'friends' he had, if he could even call them friends at this point. "Cloud, I don't think you should.." The brunet looked pleadingly at him. "I think he knows something we don't." Cloud knew something was up. He could definitely see it in the distraught look on the gunman's features.  
"It'll be fine Tifa. I'll be home soon. I'll only be here a few minutes." Tifa bit her lip and nodded still insecure about Cloud's choice. "See you at home, then." With that she sped back towards their house. Cloud watched until Fenrir disappeared from view. Besides himself Tifa was the only person he trusted driving his precious motorcycle. Why had Vincent been so relentless about not wanting him to stay? He walked through the remains of the Shinra building, kicking at the dirt. He ran a hand though his hair and sighed.  
A pair of sea green eyes watched as the blonde sifted through the dirt. He sneered. He had the swordsman right where he wanted him. He scowled. But perhaps this wasn't the right time to strike back at Cloud. He had to find mother first and foremost.  
He watched Cloud turn and fade into the haze. Sephiroth stood atop a pile of broken items pondering his encounter with Vincent. His words had stirred his anger and yet they made him doubt his own beliefs of his past. He jumped to the ground with great poise. Now it was time for him to continue searching the wreckage. This time he was not only seeking Jenova, but now he was looking for something to put his mind at ease.  
He searched well into the next morning. He sought after anything that would prove Vincent's accusations were false.  
"He also experimented on you."  
"Your mother and I...we were in love."  
Something caught his eye. He picked up a book and shook the dust from its cover. It read 'Journal.' He opened to the first page, immediately recognizing the handwriting as his fathers. Sure enough, at the bottom of the page was his father's signature.  
He sat and read page after page of his father's diary; there were detailed accounts of plans and procedures that his father had performed. A wave of resentment for his father washed over him. It hit him like a brick wall; to his displeasure Vincent had been right all along.

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End file.
